Math

A chatbot’s result for the 80-year-old “unit distance” conjecture is the first AI proof that would likely be published in math’s top journal if humans had done it alone

This eerily simple math says our days are numbered—and nobody can agree why it’s wrong

The sudden resolution of a well-known conjecture highlights the growing adoption of AI as an assistant in high-level mathematics

Fix the matchstick equation in this math puzzle

The intimidating legacy of the scariest problem in mathematics

If you switch a lamp on and off an infinite number of times, will the light end up on or off? Somehow math says both

The “coastline paradox” helped to define fractals, but coastlines themselves turn out to be less fractal than thought

A mathematical ratio could explain why AI-generated art doesn’t evoke awe from viewers

Probability theory and the Saint Petersburg paradox can help you determine whether the stakes of a game are too great

Margaret Hamilton designed safety features for NASA inspired in part by her four-year-old

Several teams appeared to spend the second half of the U.S. professional basketball season losing games on purpose for a better chance at a high draft pick. New ideas propose to fix this incentive problem

Statistical principles show you don’t need a nefarious plot to explain clusters of missing scientists and lab workers